The Week in Women Voters (June 12, 2024)
This week’s edition is a little late but with good reason. Presidential primary season came to a close over the weekend, and the party nominations are all-but-decided—but both candidates faced significant protest votes that have the potential to shape party conventions over the summer as well as the final vote in November. There’s still plenty to be decided before Election Day, with upcoming primaries in crucial states across the country being held in the coming months. Let’s talk about what’s at stake:
The Most Unprotected Person in America Is Still the Black Woman:
In early June, a federal appeals court halted the Fearless Fund from issuing business grants to Black women. The Fearless Fund is a funding program founded by three Black women in Atlanta with the goal of investing in women of color—a population that receives less than 1% of venture capital funding—to help overcome the systemic inequality faced by women of color entrepreneurs. If we want to get even more specific, firms founded by Black women specifically received just 0.0006% of funding raised by startups between 2009 and 2017.
The ruling is only temporary while the case is decided, but it’s an insidious display of the attacks women of color still face that will have lasting repercussions.
It’s worth noting that the case against the Fearless Fund came from Edward Blum, the same affirmative-action opponent who brought a lawsuit against colleges that ended with the Supreme Court overturning race-conscious admissions policies this past summer. And just in case you thought otherwise, Blum isn’t stopping there. This septuagenarian has been working for decades against racial justice and programs that encourage diversity. And he plans to continue attacking programs that support women and the LGBTQIA+ community as well. Just… ew…
But, in all seriousness, Blum is not alone in attacking programs that seek to overcome inequalities baked into the system. Let’s call these efforts for what they are: desperate attempts by white men to hold onto power that will harm women and communities of color most while maintaining a system that only works for a powerful few.
The Right to Contraception Is Under Attack:
Also, last week, Republican lawmakers blocked a bill that would have protected contraception access nationally.
You might be wondering, though, is contraception actually under threat? In a word, yes.
Lawmakers who voted against the bill claimed there was no need to protect contraception through legislation because the Supreme Court already protects birth control. But that’s not super promising for a couple of really big reasons: First, since the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, there has been some confusion about certain types of birth control. And those very lawmakers who are telling us contraception access is just fine, and there’s nothing to worry about are also arguing that IUDs and emergency birth control actually induce abortion. That’s right, they’re trying to decide what counts as birth control rather than letting medical professionals decide.
The second big reason for concern is that in a concurring opinion to that 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned abortion freedom, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that we should reconsider the rulings that protect contraception as well as same-sex marriage and more. What’s more, the court is deciding the future of medication abortion, and how that case is decided could spark challenges to birth control and IVF. And to make matters even worse, former President Trump has indicated he may support restrictions on contraception if elected.
The ‘Uncommitted Vote’ Movement Determines What’s Next:
The uncommitted vote movement netted more than half a million votes against President Biden in the primaries, which totals 30 delegates for the upcoming Democratic convention. While not enough to threaten his nomination bid, the protest vote is a crucial warning sign for the president.
Growing concern over the president’s handling of Israel’s siege on Gaza is what spurred the movement. And while not the primary issue for voters, Gaza is still important—particularly for young voters, communities of color, and women. Organizers for the uncommitted vote have yet to coalesce over what happens next, but it’s clear that the president has work to do to win back an important group of voters. If not, he risks losing them to a third-party candidate or sitting out the presidential election entirely—and neither option would help his re-election bid.
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Written by Jess Herrera. Jess is Supermajority Ed Fund’s senior director of communications, creative, and digital. She leads the organization’s work to shift the narrative about women and build women’s power using strong, movement-wide messaging strategies.